Book-index notcher

ABSTRACT

A wedge-shaped guide is arranged to align the free edges of the book leaves in a fanned-out orientation as the cutting edge of a truncated hollow cylindrical plunger shears the leaves while being moved in a direction perpendicular to the base surface supporting the pages in the guide.

United States Patent 91 Clayton [451 Apr. 24, 1973 BOOK-INDEX NOTCHER [76] Inventor: Harry B. Clayton, Ander Road RD No. l, Lansdale, Pa. 19446 [22] Filed: Jan. 7, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 104,588

[52] US. Cl. ..83/467, 83/581, 83/671,

83/693, 83/904 [51] Int. Cl ..B26d 7/16, B26d 5/08 [58] Field of Search ..83/467, 904, 97,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,620,874 12/1952 Chase 53/904 X 2,078,656 4/1937 Erickson ..83/904 X 2,431,482 1 1/1947 Hutchinson ..83/4()7 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 9/1884 Germany ..83/581 11/1956 Canada ..83/9l7 Primary liraminerAndrew R. Juhasz Assistant Evan1incrLe0n Gilden Allorne vwilliam G. Miller, Jr.

[ 57] ABSTRACT A wedge-shaped guide is arranged to align the free edges of the book leaves in a fanned-out orientation as the cutting edge of a truncated hollow cylindrical plunger shears the leaves while being moved in a direction perpendicular to the base surface supporting the pages in the guide.

9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures BOOK-INDEX NOTCHER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to machines for cutting index notches in the unbound edges of books and is particularly useful in directories, dictionaries and handbooks.

The advantages of index notches as compared with paste-on tabs and other types of indexing systems which can be applied to bound books by the user has long been recognized. However, there has not been available an index notch cutter of sufficient simplicity and ease of operation to provide anyone other than publishers with the capability for index notching. The availability of a small, easily operated notch cutter would, of course, make it possible for the users of books to index them in accordance with their own requirements, which may differ from the indexing system and associated notations which might normally be provided by the publisher.

Prior art devices have usually used large supporting beds and clamping means for the book to be notched and have not been constructed so as to provide the required small size and ease of operation necessary for the book user to do the indexing himself. The user requires a compact unit which is as readily portable and as easy to operate as the simple office paper punching machine, for example.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved index notch cutter for books.

It is another object of this invention to provide an index notch cutter which can be constructed in a form that is compact so as to be easily portable and which is also simple and easy to operate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a book index notching machine comprising a base surface and an alignment surface forming an acute angle with the base surface to provide a wedge-shaped guide which can receive the leaves of the book so that they assume a fanned-out orientation. A notch'cutter is provided so that the movable cutting edge is operable to produce a shearing cut of the book leaves placed in the wedge-shaped guide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded view of one form of the index notcher in which the plunger 22 has been rotated 45, in the direction shown, for clarity.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the notcher partially in cross section showing the book leaves inserted in the wedge-shaped guide.

FIG. 3 is a back elevation of the notcher partially in cross section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, in which like elements are identified by like reference numerals, it will be evident that the book index notcher shown is an easily portable, hand operated unit. The notcher shown is supported by a base which has a base surface 12 with a fixed arcuate cutting edge 14, which is a semicircular edge.

The base surface 12 is the top surface of the cutting 'platen 16 which is mounted on the support 18 by flatheaded machine screws 21. The support 18 has ahollow interior opening at the top to form a chamber 20 for collecting the notched-out edges of the book leaves being cut.

A cylindrical plunger 22 is the movable element utilized to provide an arcuate movable cutting edge 24 to cooperate with the fixed cutting edge 14 for making the shearing cut of the book leaves so as to form the index notches. The movable cutting edge 24 can, for example, be formed on the lower edge of the plunger 22 by making a cylindrical bore in the plungers lower end so that there is formed a hollow cylindrical end. That hollow cylindrical end can then be cut at an angle so hat the plunger becomes a truncated right cylinder. The truncating out can be made along a plane which would intersect the base surface 12 at an acute angle when the plunger 22 is in its normal axial path of travel perpendicular to the base surface.

A cutting edge can then be formed on the hollow cylindrical end by chamfering the end formed by the truncating cut.

As shown in the drawings, the plunger 22 has a hand actuating knob 28 attached to its upper end.

The plunger with its cutting edge is guided by the cylindrical bore 29 in the guide body 30. The guide body 30 may be a separate element mounted to the base I0 so that the guide body 30 becomes an integral part of the base 10 or the guide body and the base may be constructed as one piece. The guide body is aligned with the base so that the cutting edge of the plunger cooperates with the cutting edge ofthe base surface.

As shown in the drawings, the guide body 30 also has another use in the notch cutting operation. It has a plane alignment surface 32 which forms an acute angle with the base surface 12. That angle faces the same direction as the angle between the cutter edge 24 and the base 12. The intersecting alignment surface 32 and base surface 12 together form a wedge-shaped guide for receiving the free edges of the book to be notched so that the leaves 33 are maintained in a fanned-out orientation when the book is held so that the edges of the leaves abut the alignment surface 32, as shown in FIG. 2.

The wedge-shaped guide orients the book leaves 33 in a position between the movable cutting edge 24 and the fixed cutting edge 14 so that actuation of the plunger 22 by pressure on the knob 28 will cause the cutting edges 24 and 14 to shear the leaves of the book as the plunger is translated along its axis in a direction perpendicular to the base surface 12.

The plane of the alignment surface 32 intersects the plane ofthe base surface 12 along a line, the apical line, which intersects the axis of the plunger 22 to provide a notch which is a full semicircle in the bottom leaf of the group being notched.

The plunger 22 is returned to its rest position after the cutting operation by the helical spring 40 which has one end engaging the shoulder 42 of knob 28 and the other end engaging the shoulder 44 in the guide body 30. The shoulder 42 also serves to limit the travel of the plunger 22 when it contacts the upper surface 48 of the guide body 30.

The rest position of plunger 22 is determined by the slot 50 (FIG. 3) and the end of set screw 52 which projects into the cylindrical bore 29 of guide body 30 so as to engage the lower end of the slot 50 when the plunger is in its rest position, as shown in FIG. 3.

In the drawings, the angle shown between the alignment surface 32 and the base surface 12 is 30 while the angle of the cutting edge 24 with the base surface 12 is 45. Angles of this size have been found satisfactory to provide both a sufficiently long index notch for most books and adequate ease of operation as the leaves of the book are cut. It is, of course, evident to those skilled in the art that these angles may be varied as desired; however, it has been found desirable to have the angle between the plane of the cutter edge 24 and the base surface 12 larger than the angle formed between the alignment surface 32 and the base surface 12 in order to minimize the resistance of the book leaves to the cutting operation.

In using the book-index notcher shown in the drawings, it has been found convenient to place the base 18 on the book leaves below those to be notched. Then the leaves above are inserted into the wedgeshaped guide, as shown in FIG. 2, and held by hand so that the ends of the leaves firmly abut against the alignment surface 32 'while they are being firmly held downwardly against the base surface 12. With the book leaves so oriented the plunger is then actuated, as by hand pressure. The pressure is applied along the axis of the plunger so as to firmly translate the cutting edge 24 through the leaves intercepted by the edge 24 and the cooperating edge 14, thus cutting the notch. The notched leaves may then be withdrawn from the wedge-shaped guide and the appropriate index marker placed at the bottom ofthe resulting notch.

While the index notcher shown in the drawings utilizes a straight line translation of the movable cutting edge in a direction perpendicular to the base surface, the notching operation may be performed by mounting the element having the movable cutting edge so that it pivots about an axis in the plane of the base surface. Such a pivoting action may, for example, be produced by actuating a lever type handle connected to, or forming a part of the element, having the movable cutting edge.

What is claimed is: l. A book-index notcher comprising: a base surface, an alignment surface forming an acute angle with said base surface so as to provide a wedge-shaped guide for receiving the leaves of a book in a fanned-out orientation, and notch cutter having a cutting edge, said notch cutter being operable along an axis perpendicular to said base surface to produce a shearing cut of the book leaves placed in said wedge-shaped guide. 2. A book-index notcher comprising: a base surface, an alignment surface forming an acute angle with said base surface so as to provide a wedge-shaped guide for receiving the leaves of a book in a fanned-out orientation, and a notch cutter having a cutting edge formed on a cylindrical end of a plunger so that said cutting edge is operable to produce a shearing cut of the book leaves placed in said wedge-shaped guide, said notch cutter including a guide for said plunger arranged for translation of the cylindrical end along its axis in a direction perpendicular to said base surface.

3. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 2 in 5 which the movable cutting edge formed on said cylindrical end of the plunger lies along the line formed by a plane intersecting said cylinder at an angle which forms an acute angle with said base surface so that angle faces the same direction as said wedge-shaped guide.

4. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 3 in which the angle formed between said alignment surface and said base surface has its apical line oriented to intersect the axis of said cylindrical end.

5. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 4 in which the acute angle between said base surface and the plane of said movable cutting edge is greater than the angle formed between said base surface and said alignment surface.

6. A book-index notcher comprising:

a base having a surface with a notch cutting edge;

a plunger having an end with a notch cutting edge for cooperating with the cutting edge of said base surface to thereby provide a shearing notch cutter; and

a guide body for said plunger forming an integral structure with said base, said guide body including,

a bore for guiding the plunger for translation of the notch cutting end perpendicularly to the base surface, and

an alignment surface forming an acute angle with said base surface to thereby form a guide for receiving the loose edges of the book leaves to be notched in a fanned-out orientation over the notch cutting edge of said base surface, whereby translation of the plunger causes a shearing of the book leaves by the cooperation action of said base sur face cutting edge and said plunger cutting edge.

7. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 6 in which the plunger end with the notch cutting edge is a hollow cylinder with the cutting edge lyingalong the line formed by the intersection of saidcylinder with a plane forming an acute angle with said base surface so that the angle thus formed faces the same direction as the angle between said alignment surface and said base surface.

8. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 7 in which the angle formed between the plane in which the hollow cylinder notch cutting edge lies and the base surface is larger than the angle between said alignment surface and said base surface.

9. A book-index notcher comprising:

a base having;

a cutting platen whose top forms a base surface which includes a semicircular notch cutting edge, and

a hollow support for said platen arranged to collect the notched out edges of the book leaves,

a guide body integral with said cutting platen and providing;

a cylindrical guide bore whose axis is perpendicuand said base surface and is the larger of said angles; and

spring means for biasing the notch cutting edge of said plunger away from the notch cutting edge of said base surface sufficiently to allow said guide to receive book leaves between said notch cutting edges. 

1. A book-index notcher comprising: a base surface, an alignment surface forming an acute angle with said base surface so as to provide a wedge-shaped guide for receiving the leaves of a book in a fanned-out orientation, and a notch cutter having a cutting edge, said notch cutter being operable along an axis perpendicular to said base surface to produce a shearing cut of the book leaves placed in said wedgeshaped guide.
 2. A book-index notcher comprising: a base surface, an alignment surface forming an acute angle with said base surface so as to provide a wedge-shaped guide for receiving the leaves of a book in a fanned-out orientation, and a notch cutter having a cutting edge formed on a cylindrical end of a plunger so that said cutting edge is operable to produce a shearing cut of the book leaves placed in said wedge-shaped guide, said notch cutter including a guide for said plunger arranged for translation of the cylindrical end along its axis in a direction perpendicular to said base surface.
 3. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 2 in which the movable cutting edge formed on said cylindrical end of the plunger lies along the line formed by a plane intersecting said cylinder at an angle which forms an acute angle with said base surface so that angle faces the same direction as said wedge-shaped guide.
 4. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 3 in which the angle formed between said alignment surface and said base surface has its apical line oriented to intersect the axis of said cylindrical end.
 5. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 4 in which the acute angle between said base surface and the plane of said movable cutting edge is greater than the angle formed between said base surface and said alignment surface.
 6. A book-index notcher comprising: a base having a surface with a notch cutting edge; a plunger having an end with a notch cutting edge for cooperating with the cutting edge of said base surface to thereby provide a shearing notch cutter; and a guide body for said plunger forming an integral structure with said base, said guide body including, a bore for guiding the plunger for translation of the notch cutting end perpendicularly to the base surface, and an alignment surface forming an acute angle with said base surface to thereby form a guide for receiving the loose edges of the book leaves to be notched in a fanned-out orientation over the notch cutting edge of said base surface, whereby translation of the plunger causes a shearing of the book leaves by the cooperative action of said base surface cutting edge and said plunger cutting edge.
 7. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 6 in which the plunger end with the notch cutting edge is a hollow cylinder with the cutting edge lying along the line formed by the intersection of said cylinder with a plane forming an acute angle with said base surface so that the angle thus formed faces the same direction as the angle between said alignment surface and said base surface.
 8. A book-index notcher as set forth in claim 7 in which the angle formed between the plane in which the hollow cylinder notch cutting edge lies and the base surface is larger than the angle between said alignment surface and said base surface.
 9. A book-index notcher comprising: a base having; a cutting platen whose top forms a base surface which includes a semicircular notch cutting edge, and a hollow support for said platen arranged to collect the notched out edges of the book leaves, a guide body integral with said cutting platen and providing; a cylindrical guide bore whose axis is perpendicular to said base surface, and an alignment surface which forms an acute angle with said base surface to provide a guide for receiving the book leaves to be notched so as to orient them in a fanned-out alignment over the notch cutting edge of said base surface, the apical line of said acute angle being oriented to intersect the axis of said cylinderical bore; a cylindrical plunger mounted in said cylindrical bore for notch cutting translation therein, said plunger having a hollow end with a notch cutting edge lying in a plane forming an acute angle with said base surface which faces the same direction as the angle formed between said alignment surface and said base surface and is the larger of said angles; and spring means for biasing the notch cutting edge of said plunger away from the notch cutting edge of said base surface sufficiently to allow said guide to receive book leaves between said notch cutting edges. 